Much Worse Games
by warinmymindx
Summary: When Kianna Kelly is selected as a tribute in WWE's Hunger Games, she is forced to make the difficult decision between saving the love of her life and losing her own. AU. Dolph/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins. I own no one but the main character. I don't make money off this.

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I wake with a start from the bright, shining sun blinding me through the window. Covering my eyes, I turn over and hope to be met with another warm body but there is no one. "Dolph?" I croak out, sleep still evident in my voice. Silence is my answer. He must have gone while I was sleeping. _Wouldn't want anyone to catch him coming out of my room._

I swing my legs over the side of the bed, a look of disappointment briefly crossing my face. I shrug and stand, making my way to the bathroom. A part of me wants to be angry that he left me in bed alone on reaping day, but the other part of me is thinking 'You knew what you were getting yourself into.'

It's true, I did. I've been fooling around with Dolph Ziggler behind everyone's back for 6 months now and I'd known since I met him that he'd be trouble. We met in FCW. I had been ring announcing at the time. The moment he flashed me that winning smile, I knew I was a goner. There was just something about him that pulled me in. I knew that I couldn't leave him alone if I tried. We love each other, and we are both aware of each other's feelings, but I love you's are rare between us. He seems to like it this way, so I never complain. He's told me time and time again how he'd like me to be his girlfriend, but those are just words. I believe the reason he hesitates is his ex-girlfriend, Maria Kanellis. She lives in the Indy District now, but she is still in love with him. He swears up and down that the feeling isn't mutual, but I'm no fool.

They still talk a lot, and if word got around that we were seeing each other, she would be crushed. So we creep around to avoid hurting her feelings. Or at least that's what he says. Sometimes I think he still messes around with her, but since I'm not officially his girlfriend, I'm in no place to ask.

I brush my teeth, comb the curly mess I call hair, and begin to pick out my dress for the reaping. Years ago, the six districts of the wrestling business revolted against the WWE. Together, they stood strong, but when the ECW District was obliterated by the WWE, resistance became impossible, as the ECW District was the driving force behind the rebellion. The remaining districts submitted to the WWE and lost their hope for change.

Every year, each district holds a reaping ceremony. Two large glass balls contain slips of paper with each wrestler's first and last name. A person's name is entered each year from the moment they are eligible. The entries are cumulative, and each year another slip is added to the glass ball for the number of years the person has been there. However, they can choose to add their name more times in exchange for pushes. Often times their pushes are poorly written and unorganized and they are very unsuccessful, but the people of the wrestling business are so desperate for their talent to be recognized, they risk their lives by putting their names in more times. The wrestlers who are picked are then sent to WWE Headquarters for a week of training, and then sent into a vast arena to fight to the death until only one tribute remains. This event is called The Hunger Games.

The district's representative picks a name out of the balls, one ball is for the girls and the other for the boys. The tributes whose names are chosen are then entered into the Games, unless someone is willing to volunteer - a normally quite rare phenomenon unless it is in one of the "Career District", also known as the RAW District, the district in which superstars and divas have been training since the start of their careers for the Games. The reaping ceremony is also treated like a celebration to all districts. The wrestlers dress up and sometimes give gifts to each other. They also tend to celebrate after the reaping is over, except of course for the people who are chosen who are busy saying their goodbyes.

As I'm rummaging through my suitcase for something to wear, I begin to wonder what will happen if my name is called. The mere thought of my name being picked is too much to bear. My breathing becomes ragged and I begin to feel queasy. I sit on the bed and put my head between my legs, taking deep breaths.

Since this is my first year in the WWE, my name is only in once, so I'm about as safe as anyone could get. But even though the odds are in my favor, my name is still in the glass ball that Lillian Garcia will dig her hand into, and my name could still be picked. I squeeze my eyes shut, and pray to God that it isn't me.

My phone beeps, telling me that I've just received a text message. I run to retrieve it from its place on the dresser, hoping it will be Dolph. But when I open the text, I see that it is only an automated message from WWE Headquarters reminding everyone to dress nicely and be on time to the reaping.

My mind wanders to the other people on the rosters that have been here for years. The people whose names are in it over 20 times. The odds are not in their favor, and here I am getting sick over my name being entered once. I blush, feeling embarrassed that I'm acting like such a baby.

Once I pick out a decent dress, I throw on some pants and a shirt and head down to breakfast with the other wrestlers. I sit alone at a table in the corner of the cafe, eating a bowl of chewy oatmeal. I am so lost in my thoughts that I barely notice Brie when she sits next to me, a bowl of fruit in her hands. She's talking, but I'm barely paying her any attention. Then she says something about Dolph, and I am automatically snapped back to reality.

"What? What did you say?" I ask around a mouthful of oatmeal.

"I said Dolph Ziggler's name is in 45 times."

A chunk of oatmeal gets caught in my throat and I begin to cough. Brie is patting my back, asking if I'm okay. I nod, but in the inside I am a nervous wreck. What if Dolph is picked? Could he be the one to stay alive out of 20 other tributes? I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. Dolph's name won't be picked. I reassure myself, but this does little to soothe me.

The room is beginning to feel stuffy and I start to breathe heavily. I stand abruptly, tossing my bowl in the trash, telling Brie that I'm heading up to my room. On the way up there, I bump into Nicole, Brie's twin sister. We exchange hellos, but I can tell by the look on her face that she is just as worried about the reaping as I am. I wish her good luck, and continue to my room, locking myself inside.

I look at the time on my phone and see that I have about an hour to get ready before the reaping begins. I run myself a warm bath and focus on scrubbing myself clean. I put on the outfit I laid out for myself before breakfast. A simple white eyelet lace dress, and matching sandals. I leave my hair as it is in soft waves and put on a white headband. I examine myself in the mirror and realize that the outfit makes me look innocent, almost child-like. I take a deep breath and smooth my dress out, checking the time again. Thirty minutes. Good. I have time to swing by Dolph's room. Maybe we can walk down together.

When I get to Dolph's room, I find that he's already left, so I have no choice but to head down to the reaping by myself. When I arrive at the reaping site, I sign in and I'm immediately ushered to stand with the other diva's facing, the ring where there's a podium, three chairs and the two glass bowls that hold the names of the tributes that will be chosen. In the bowl to the right, there's a little white slip of paper with Kianna Kelly written on it in careful handwriting.

The three chairs are meant for our district representative, Lillian Garcia, our mentor, Mike Mizanin, and the Smackdown general manager, Teddy Long. We are supposed to have two mentors but Smackdown hasn't had a victor in years, and Mike Mizanin is the only victor still alive. He won his games by surviving until there were only four tributes left , including himself, and sniped the remaining tributes from the trees with a dart gun.

Soon, General Manager, Teddy Long, steps up to the podium and begins to read. It's the same story from years before. He is telling the history of the WWE and how The Hunger Games came about. The Hunger Games is to remind us how we're at the WWE's mercy and how we would not have any chance at surviving another rebellion.

"It is a time for repentance and a time for thanks," says the general manager.

He then introduces Lillian Garcia, our district representative. Lillian walks to the podium and greets us all with a "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor. " She flips her hair over her shoulder and goes on about how it is an honor to be here. Through the crowd, I spot Dolph. He looks back at me and smiles. And suddenly I'm thinking of him and his forty-five names in that big glass ball and how the odds are not in his favor. It's time for the drawing.

"Ladies first!" Lillian says as she crosses to the ball with the girls' names. She reaches in, digs her perfectly manicured hand deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. Everything is silent and you could hear a pin drop. I cross my fingers, and I am hoping, and praying, and hoping some more that it is not me. Lillian goes back to the podium, smooths the slip of paper, and reads out the name in an enthusiastic voice.

And it is me. It's me. Kianna Denise Kelly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the characters, I don't make money from this. This is based off The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

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When I first started wrestling training we began with the basics. Things like running the ropes and taking bumps and stuff. When I took my first bump, it was as If the impact had knocked all the breath out of me, and I laid there struggling to inhale, to exhale, to do anything.

This is how I feel now, trying to remember how to breathe, unable to speak, completely stunned as the reality of what has just happened hits me. A guard pulls me out of the crowd and gives me a light push towards the steel steps. The tears are streaming now, and I cover my face because this is being broadcasted live across the nation. The last thing I need is for people to think I'm weak.

I enter the ring and stand next to Lillian who is offering me her hand. I shake it hesitantly and turn back towards the front, avoiding everyone's eyes as the tears continue to pour. I don't even bother to conceal them anymore, because I know that I have no chance of winning. Lillian returns to the glass bowl and digs her hand in for the second female tribute. It is Cameron Lynn. Someone I've met a few times since I started here. One of Brodus Clay's dancers.

There's a loud scream and everyone's head turns, to see Naomi, Cameron's bestfriend and dance partner, running towards her. The guards hold her back, as Cameron, who is crying as well, makes her way up the steel steps.

Naomi is screaming her head off, and the guards have to take her away. During the commotion, I find Dolph in the crowd, whose face is void of any emotion as he looks on.

Once order is regained, Lillian returns to the podium and announces that she will be choosing the male tributes now. I can barely see. The tears have blurred my vision. She crosses over to the glass bowl and digs her hand in, pulling out a slip of paper. It's Wade Barrett.

He doesn't seem to be worried at all; in fact he is smiling as he ascends the steel steps, taking his place next to Lillian. Cameron, who has joined me on the girl's side is sobbing quietly now.

Lillian has grabbed another slip of paper from the glass ball, and Kofi's name passes her lips. Kofi is weaving through the crowd, a look of nervousness plastered on his face. He's just about to place his foot on the first steel step when a familiar voice rings out in the crowd.

"Wait!" the voice calls again, capturing everyone's attention. He pushes through the crowd of people and slides into the ring, not bothering with the steps. The microphone is snatched from Lillian's podium and he turns to face the crowd of people.

"I volunteer as tribute." Dolph says calmly as he stares into the cameras.

I gasp, and someone is pulling my arm. I realize it is Cameron. I must have been about to fall. Lillian takes her mic back and smiles falsely into the camera.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the tributes of the Smackdown District! Cameron Lynn, Kiana Kelly, Wade Barrett, and Dolph Ziggler!" says Lillian.

I want to scream, I want to run. I want to be any place but here. I start to feel like my throat is closing up and I have to take big gulps of air.

One question rings ceaselessly in my head. Why would Dolph volunteer? I look over at him with that cocky smile plastered on his face. In a few weeks, we could both be dead. Say Dolph does dominate the Games, there can only be one winner. But there hasn't been a victor from Smackdown in years.

Teddy Long gives a dreary speech and then motions for us all to shake hands. When I shake Dolph's, he looks me right in the eye and I think I see a glint of something there. He gives my hand what I assume is a reassuring squeeze. We turn back to face the crowd as Smackdown's theme song plays.

My forehead crinkles as wrack my brain for reasons Dolph would volunteer for me. Nothing comes up and I push it to the back of my mind for a later time. When I'm alone and there aren't a million eyes on me, calculating my every move. When I can think clearly.

The moment the theme song ends, a group of guards march us through the hallways of the hotel. We're each conducted to a room and left alone. The room is bare, with plain white walls, white linoleum tiled floors and a few folding chairs scattered around. I sit in a chair and take deep breaths to calm myself as I prepare for the next hour. That's the time allowed for goodbyes.

My first visitor is Brie. Her eyes are puffy from crying and I rush over to hug her. I try to hold my tears in the best I can, but some of them spill anyway. She had been one of the first people to befriend me when I was called up. We hit it off the first time we met, because we are very much alike; kind, good-hearted, and soft-spoken. She squeezes me tight and whispers words of encouragement, but I have already come to the conclusion that I'm going to die.

"Listen to me, Kiana. You have to at least try. Don't go out without a fight, and don't let them change you." She says, gripping my shoulders tightly. I nod, because I will try for her, but I know it will all be in vain. She gives me a gold charm bracelet with a songbird charm hooked to it.

"You're allowed one thing from your district in the arena. One thing to remind you of home. Will you wear this bracelet?" She asks, pressing the piece of jewelry into my palm. She doesn't wait for me to answer and instead takes the bracelet from me and secures it on my wrist.

"Thank you." I say gratefully, and I give her one last squeeze because I know this will be the last time I ever see her.

My next visitor is Randy Orton which comes as a complete shock to me because I've only spoken to him once or twice since I got here. His eyes lock with mine and though he doesn't say anything, something in that cold calculating stare is telling me he's rooting for me.

One by one, friends and acquaintances come to wish me luck and tell me goodbye. This only makes me feel worse and as Natalya is closing the door behind herself, I break down. I am crying so hard and so loud that a guard pokes his head in to check on me, asking if I'm okay. I don't even bother to answer him.


End file.
